Markets continue to remain lacklustre post the announcement of December IIP numbers. Indian industrial output rose by a slower-than-expected 1.8% in December compared with a year earlier, government data showed on Friday. The figure stood at 8.1% in December 2010.
At 11:30 hrs, the Sensex was down 13 points at 17,818 and the 50-share Nifty declined 9 points at 5,403.
On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed as investors kept a cautious view over Greece's debt restructuring prospect, after Athens struck a deal on fiscal reforms, paving the way for securing a crucial financial aid. Hang Seng is down by nearly 1%.
Back home, Tata Steel is the top Sensex winner, up over 4% after the company’s managing director HM Nerurkar said that an improvement in operating performance, coupled with a number of new marketing initiatives, should increase profitability at the South East Asian operations.
From the Capital Goods space, L&T has surged by over 1%. Capital goods growth went down to -16.5% from -4.6% in November 2011.
Among Auto segment, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and M&M have surged between 1-2%.
Bharti Airtel has rebounded after witnessing a steep fall during last few trading sessions. The stock is up by over 1%.
ACC has gained almost 2% on reporting a healthy 86% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in net profit at Rs 463 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 2011, on the back of higher sales and net tax credit of Rs 129 crore.
Among other frontliners, ONGC, SBI, Tata Power, Jindal Steel and Tata Power have gained between 1-1.5%.
On the losing side, Maruti Suzuki is the top Sensex loser, down 1%.
Hindalco is down 1%. The company will issue up to 150 million preferential warrants to the promoters and raise 2,000 crore. Sterlite is down by almost 1%.
Index heavyweight Infosys and ICICI Bank are also down by almost 1%. RIL is marginally down.
The broader markets continue to outperform the benchmarks indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained by almost 1% each.
Bosch India has soared 14%, its lifetime high, after reporting three-fold jump in net profit at Rs 50.62 crore on back of higher operational income for the fourth quarter ended December 2011.
Cummins India has rallied 13% after operating profit margins of the company improved 138 basis points to 21.20% for the quarter ended December 2011.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) has rallied 7.4% on reporting 13-fold increase in net profit at Rs 2,725 crore for the quarter ended December 2011 on receiving government subsidy on fuel sales for the previous two quarters.
The overall market breadth in BSE remains healthy with 1,570 shares advancing and 933 shares declining.
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